Holy crap it is raining a lot

If you're like me and you grew up in Canberra, you might be wondering what all that stuff coming out of the sky is. Lukily, I've been bushwalking in both New Zealand and Tasmania, so I am well acquainted with this phenomenon and am here to enlighten you. The stuff coming out of the sky is water - the very same stuff that comes out of the tap, and when it comes out of the sky it's called rain.

The good news is that rain makes the fields green and lush. In fact, rain is great because ACT Sportsgrounds have been really struggling to keep fields open in the ACT because of the drought and a few good seasons should really help them out. They've done an awesome job of keeping things going for so long so they deserve our thanks.

The bad news is that with enough rain sportsgrounds will be closed temporarily. Anyone who's seen the effect of some serious footwork drills on a wet pitch will know why. In the ACT, field closures are announced before 8:30 in the morning on weekdays, so often fields will be open even if it's rained a heap during the day but has been dry in the days before. I can't really remember when it last rained this much in Canberra but usually ACT Sportsgrounds and pretty good about keeping fields open in wet weather. To find out if fields are open call the field closure hotline on 6207 5957. A friendly automated voice will tell you what's going in no time. Don't call Canberra Connect or the sportsgrounds office, where a weary voice may well break down into tears at their millionth phone call about field closures for the day.

As for frisbee stuff, you can rest assured that if the fields are open, games are on. We play (and indeed have played) rain, hail, shine or earthquake. The only thing that stops games are nearby lightning and perhaps complete nuclear annihilation. Playing frisbee in the rain is one of life's great joys and as Australians it's something of a nationalistic duty to get out and enjoy the once-in-a-lifetime chance to get rained on in that national capital.